Felicity wasn’t a bad cat, but she could be very mean. It all started when Felicity came to MerryMac Farm. The first person she met was Bear, the big beautiful snowy white dog that guarded the farm, taking care of everyone that lived there, the horses, chickens, pigs, cats, and even the people. But Felicity was mean to Bear from the very first day, hissing and spitting and swatting Bear’s nose with her claws. When the other cats came to welcome Felicity to the barn, she hissed and growled at them too.
“She’ll settle down,” said Big Bob who had been a hisser and a growler himself when he first arrived.
“She’s probably just scared,” he said.
So the cats waited – Moonlight, George, Mabel, Bob, Sol, Ben and all the others, all 12 of them. But Felicity Didn’t settle down and seemed determined to be as mean as she could possibly be, chasing the other cats out of the best sleeping spots in the barn, trying to push them away from the food, and cat screaming until everyone’s ears hurt.
“Someone get that cat a muzzle,” said Moonlight with a groan.
After a while, the others decided to just ignore her, and soon Felicity was left all alone.
And Felicity would have been quite alone, except for one thing. The Lady. Felicity loved The Lady. She would follow her wherever she went; while she did her chores, when she rode her horse in the tall trees, and especially when she went to the little house she called her office.
“Time to go to work Felicity,” she would say with a smile. The office was warm, and Felicity would stretch out on the big fluffy couch and sleep all day.
One day The Lady took Felicity for a ride in her truck. She put two big cushions on the seat so that when Felicity sat up very tall, she could look out the window and see all around her, the trees, the cows, the birds, and all the little rivers and streams. The Lady even brought some tasty treats with her which were very delicious indeed. It was such an exciting adventure, that when they got home, Felicity jumped right up into The Lady’s arms.
“Again,” she meowed, “Again”.
“Maybe tomorrow,” said The Lady.
But they didn’t go again tomorrow or the next day. Felicity sulked and sighed. She dragged her tail around in the mud and put on her saddest face, but the truck door stayed tightly closed. Finally, Felicity decided that the only way she would ever be able to go on another adventure would be to go all by herself. So, when anyone came to the farm in a car or a truck, she would jump in as quickly as she could and look for a place to hide. But the humans always caught her first and shooed her away.
“Out you go Missy,” they would say” No room for pussycats here”.
One day a gray van rumbled up the driveway and a man with lots of tools got out. He went with The Lady into the big house and stayed there for a very long time. But the back door to the van was still open! Felicity’s heart pounded with excitement. She jumped into the van and raced to hide behind a big pile of wood and pipes. “Yippee,” she said to herself. “I’m going on an adventure. I wonder if there will be treats?”
But there were no treats, and no cushions, and no window to look out. It was getting late by the time the man came back out and slammed the door of the van shut. Felicity shivered and looked around. It was dark and cold, and when the van started moving it was so bumpy it made her head hurt.
